…are we done? I think we’re done

Lizzie and Lydia’s expressions…

…why is Ricky Collins commandeering the attention of our man-cake, am I right, Lydia?

the Lizzie Bennet diaries

sarahthedancer3:

I love the LBD and this was one of my favorite episodes. Maxwell Glick & Mary Kate Wiles are hilarious together!

*** You gotta right click and hit view photo and then zoom in to see the words, sorry. It’s poster size! ***

neither-saint-nor-sinner:

Faces of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.

In which I ramble about The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

I was getting ready to write a whole long post about Lizzie’s supposed rudeness and how it is justified, now that I’ve actually seen Episode 39, but I guess I won’t have to now. This is basically the gist of it.

But come on, the guy asks her to QUIT SCHOOL to go into business with him. Some people say Lizzie should do it, because the job would give her experience and connections to further her career.

Uh. No. (While yes, experience and connections will be provided by this job, for Lizzie it’s not enough.)

As someone who still remember what it is like to get a job straight out of university having next to no experience, I understand the idea that yes, you do sometimes have to grit your teeth and do boring stuff. But you should do the boring stuff that you at least believe have some chance of succeeding and believe would actually further your career. You do not quit school, get stuck still with student loans and then pursue a job where you think the person hiring you knows nothing about his business. I think some viewers actually forget that little detail. Lizzie thinks Collins is useless at web videos, so why should she quit school and work for him?

But…Charlotte will probably take Collins’ offer!! Does that mean that Charlotte is fooled by Collins? No, Charlotte just edited out the entire video, cutting out all of Collins’ rambling, I’m sure Charlotte knows exactly what Collins is. But I think here, Lizzie’s prejudice comes into play a bit. Let’s face it, Lizzie is very judgemental, and Charlotte, well, less so.  She doesn’t have some embarrassing memory associated with Collins and views Collins with less…annoyance. While Charlotte probably knows that Collins is about as inexperienced as can be about web videos, I think she is more confident in her own abilities to make this job work (just as Charlotte Lucas was confident thatshecan make the marriage work where Elizabeth cannot).

I think in the novels and/or PP95 (can’t remember if it’s actual line in the novel), Jane basically says that you have to make allowances for differences in character and temper. Lizzie has her reasons to refuse her job because her personality just clashes with both Collins and the job, but Charlotte isn’t Lizzie, so it might not be so bad for her.

I think one of the important but often ignored moments of self-realisation Elizabeth has in the novel was when she saw that for Charlotte, this is actually a good marriage, considering the circumstances. Not ideal, not romantic, but good, and Charlotte doesn’t regret, which is the most important thing. I think it will play out like this in LBD too, and I just hope that that will keep Charlotte in the vlog after this more than she appears in the novel.

Lastly…

Lady Catherine will bite

…Lady Catherine will appear in person?? *incoherent mass of emotions*

(Though I hope before we see her, we see some imitations first.)

I haven’t had time to watch the new LBD episode yet, but just looking at the title made me squee.

Also, I’m anticipating a lot of “Lizzie is so rude” comments.

Because…you know what, she is SUPPOSED TO BE!

I mean, seriously, yes, Collins’ proposal in P&P was obnoxious but even though Lizzie starts out trying to let him down easily, towards the end she was getting frustrated and rude.

So I would actually be disappointed if she wasn’t rude in her refusal of this proposal.

To be honest, this moment in the book isn’t supposed to show the best of either of them. So don’t expect this adaptation to.

Now that my pre-watching rant is over, I will go and actually watch the episode now.

On Lizzie and Collins

I can see why people can take this view, but I think there is more to Lizzie than what you would see on screen. I think the issue with judging Lizzie by what she portrays in her vlog is that you put yourself into the trap of thinking that the persona someone puts on the internet is the person themselves. On the internet, rarely does anyone act like they would in real life. You project a certain image that you wish people to see, and the relative anonymity allows you to do this. I have met people who seem like vlog!Lizzie online and in real life is completely different.

Of course, as a fictional vlog, the script tries to convey Lizzie as a person, so what you see is not so much what Lizzie as a persona she wants you to see, but what the writer wants you to see. It’s a sort of inception-y issue where “Lizzie is Lizzie Bennet on the internet as the writers want her to be and as Ashley portrays her”. But still, my point stands: vlog!Lizzie is only one side of her, and as unchartedlife13 says, that image is probably distorted by exaggerations.

Lizzie suffers greatly from fundamental attribution error in her initial judgement of Darcy but that is the whole point of the plot. If Lizzie had sat there and rationalised that, “oh maybe Darcy is being anti-social because he’s got a lot on his mind, what with his sister’s recent heartbreak, and maybe I should give him a break”…then there would not be a story.

People, I think, tend to be a lot more vocal on the internet, especially regarding things they have negative opinions about. Not only does ranting make for more entertaining viewing, the internet also invites you to express negativity by creating this distance barrier between you and whatever it is you are ranting about, while also giving you a wide audience that would make you feel better about ranting. I don’t think Lizzie goes around shouting at the top of her voice that Darcy is such a douche, and I’m sure she acts a lot more neutral in Darcy’s presence.

Regarding Collins, yes, Maxwell Glick makes him seem like a ridiculously lost puppy, but the point isn’t what he seems like, the point is that he isn’t compatible, romantically or professionally, with Lizzie, which is the reason she doesn’t accept his offers (either of marriage or a job as the vlog is pointing towards). Collins in the book isn’t really described as repulsive, that’s just the lasting impression from David Bamber’s portrayal in the 95 series. All Collins is in the book is “tall” and “heavy” and he talks in purple prose and is pompous and a little foolish (which I think has been translated perfectly in this modern vlog). With regards to the day, those aren’t fatal flaws, in fact, some people think that is perfectly normal. Lizzie just doesn’t, because she isn’t exactly a woman of her day. At the end, she doesn’t marry him, not because he is repulsive, but because she doesn’t love him nor does she respect him.